IOS Apps: Vital Security Measures to Swear By in 2023

In this modern digitized world, security is a hot topic of discussion in the IT universe. People nowadays are increasingly diverting towards smartphones and apps for their work. Imagine chilling at home in your pajamas and getting everything done with a single click. So, data protection and privacy are a growing worry for the government, businesses, and consumers worldwide more than ever. 

Due to the growing popularity of mobile apps and the fact that they often contain private details of customers and organizations, security is becoming extremely important.  

As a result, app developers should make sure to provide more secure mobile app development services by implementing proper data encryption, secure database management, private data communication, and secure coding. So, are you an Apple product fan? If yes, this article is definitely for you. 

In contrast to other mobile apps, iOS apps are restricted and secure with several security constraints imposed by Apple. It appears likely that 2023 will be about new and fresh security measures for iOS solutions. Intruders cannot tamper with data, coding, or connection, thanks to the secure iOS mobile applications. Security audits, SSL pinning, data protection tools, etc., are just a few of the many techniques used by Apple to safeguard mobile applications and user data.  

However, you must’ve heard the phrase ‘Nothing is perfect!’ The same saying goes for iOS app security as well. Although iOS mobile apps are secure, it still has a few loopholes that can be exploited. So, every mobile app development company should address these to make their apps more secure.  

Let’s go through different issues and the most reliable methods to solve them to help mobile app developers increase their iOS apps’ security in 2023. 

SSL Pinning in iOS Universe 

To establish an HTTP SSL connection, the developer selects the server certificate. However, it frequently happens that the developer cannot determine how precisely your server uses the certificate. The TLS protocol is typically used by iOS applications to connect to servers. Customers often forget to specify which certificates the iOS certificate needs to rely on. 

FYI – Attackers often use MitM attacks to disrupt communications by corrupting data or sensitive information.  

Best Practice: Always remember that if your HTTP traffic is not properly encrypted in a certain situation, anyone can easily view it. So, to avoid such a situation, you can implement pinning in two different ways, either by utilizing a public key hash or a certificate. 

Significance of Protected Data Storage 

Both android and iOS application development services consist of functionality that often saves the copied or pasted data to the clipboard and then displays it later when you copy something else. The private information saved on the clipboard then becomes easily accessible and editable, which increases its chances of getting exploited or misused. 

Best Practice: It’s important to ensure that any sensitive or confidential data that developers enter should be masked and not stored in the cache. It is suggested to mask your private information like credit card numbers, passwords, contact information, residential address, etc. 

Jailbreak Detection for Smartphones 

The rules and regulations surrounding Apple’s iOS are rather debatable. Most of Apple’s security mechanisms are beaten in speed by users who plan to jailbreak their smartphones. Nevertheless, any installed application could access user data and private information.  

With each new iOS device, jailbreaking becomes less frequent and even more difficult to establish. However, checking for jailbreaks will still be essential. 

Best Practice: There are many other ways to detect a jailbreak, like seeing if it can record beyond the sandbox. You can also check if the device consists of any Cydia packages. Although these approaches are far more challenging to use, they do not quite guarantee that an app will not be jailbroken. 

Follow Security Standards for Data Entry

Data entry should always be done following the strictest security protocols, even within the app. It is recommended to keep the autocomplete option disabled for most text fields. If not, the operating system will index the information – typically private – and make it accessible for autocomplete in other apps. 

Password text fields should be masked, not permitting copying and pasting between other applications or domains. 

Best Practice: It is recommended that instead of using the system keyboard to enter the PIN code displayed for permission, you can use the number buttons on the screen. 

Adhere to Anti-Fraud Mechanism 

Any IT company delivering iOS mobile app development services should always establish controls to prevent in-app activities from being attempted by someone trying to access a user’s account. The model, ID number, iOS device version, and other information are sent to the server during authorization to complete the security check. 

So, in any case, any incident might be reported if the user misplaces their device. Furthermore, blocklisting of the device can also be another option. 

Best Practice: Let’s say a user chooses to provide a GPS location. Services can be suspended when activities are being out in suspicious locations until the users establish that they are using the device. Every significant action or setting change must be verified with an SMS code, and entering the code should only be allowed to have a limited number of attempts. At that point, this approach adds a great degree of security.

Application Authorization

Users can sign in to many iOS apps utilizing a PIN or password. Therefore, it is obvious that the company needs to keep the password safe. However, the code must be typed on the server device to validate the password. To increase the application’s security, password unlocking attempts are therefore limited. If the maximum number of attempts are made, the saved data on the desk will be erased, and the user will be forced to log out of the app. 

Best Practice: To overcome such situations, it’s best to use different login methods, such as fingerprint ID, biometrics, facial recognition, etc.  

Now, before moving to the summary part, I’d like to share two more best practices as a cherry on top to help you enhance your iOS app security in 2023 greatly. 

• I firmly believe that Obj-C terminology and significant statements should not be printed or logged in by your production app. Despite being created for debugging, hackers can quickly compromise them. 
• Don’t overlook Xcode’s static analysis report, either. It is accessible by pressing ⇧⌘B. By using these tools, you can find issues like memory leaks, unused variables, and logical errors. 

Summing up! 

Undoubtedly, iOS mobile apps provide safe data storage and transmission features. Moreover, compared to android apps, iOS features, and functionalities are more secure and reliable, to be honest. In conclusion, Apple proudly provides more robust security features and privacy controls for their iOS customers. 

To bring happy news, Apple has recently announced stricter and more advanced security features for its devices in 2023. 

Data on iOS, however, can also be compromised occasionally. Furthermore, I can’t promise that using the above-mentioned best practices would make your iOS app security 100% impervious to attack. There is a constant battle raging between developers and hackers. So, to make the mobile app secure, the developers must be more conscious and adhere to some good practices. 

You can also work with professional iOS developers that help you with top-notch iOS app development services to back you up on projects of all sizes and challenges.